Aspen Times file photo
Eagle County officials will undertake three land-use reviews this week that are of interest to residents of the Roaring Fork Valley.
The Eagle County commissioners will consider today whether to grant final plat approval to the Tree Farm project in the El Jebel area and consider an extension of sketch plan approval of another project called The Fields.
In addition, the Roaring Fork Valley Regional Planning Commission will hold a work session Thursday to consider interim updates to its land-use regulations.
The county commissioners will meet today at the Eagle County office building adjacent to Crown Mountain Park. Final plat approval for the Tree Farm will be heard at 4:30 p.m. The Tree Farm has already received approval from the county commissioners. Final plat pertains to technical issues. Developer Ace Lane intends to start infrastructure work and the first phase of his residential and commercial project.
Lane received approval to build a total maximum net square feet of 514,193 of residential and other uses. The project includes 340 residential units, 60,551 square feet for a hotel and 74,007 square feet for retail, service, light industrial and office uses. The project will be built on 43 acres across Highway 82 from Whole Foods Market.
A citizens’ group opposed to the Tree Farm has filed a lawsuit to try to overturn the approval. That group, Save Mid-Valley, is contemplating appearing at the meeting and asking for the county to postpone granting final plat until the litigation is resolved, according to Allyn Harvey, a spokesman for Save Mid-Valley.
At 5:30 p.m., the county commissioners will consider a request by the developers of The Fields project to extend the initial approval, called a sketch plan. The approval expired Dec. 17. A two-year extension is being sought.
The initial approval was for 97 to 110 single-family, duplex and multi-family residences on land across Highway 82 from Blue Lake subdivision.
On Thursday, the planning commission’s work session will focus on interim updates to the land use regulations prior to a full rewrite later this year.
“The proposed amendments are focused on improving internal processes while clarifying expectations for customers, balancing public input procedures by increasing public notice, and bringing regulations into conformance with state and federal requirements,” said a news release from Eagle County.
The planning commission meeting will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the Eagle County office building next to Crown Mountain Park.
All interested community members are encouraged to review the proposed changes at http://www.eaglecounty.us/Planning/Active_Land_Use_Applications. The public comment and referral period is underway now through June 17. Comments may be submitted to kris.valdez@eaglecounty.us.